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BANGKOK – Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Pol Lt-General Chanthep Sesawech has presided over the launch of a campaign to make Bangkok a model city with a “100 per cent safety-helmet using city.”

The campaign, equipped with 1,500 motorcycle helmets, will see traffic police loaning helmets to motorists arrested for failing to wear a helmet, in order to boost road safety and save lives.

According to the Nation under the campaign, cyclists can borrow the helmets after being given a hefty traffic ticket and watching a mandatory video clip made to raise road safety awareness. They must return the helmets within seven days.

Pol Lt-General Chanthep Sesawech, said 75 per cent of Bangkok motorcyclists wore helmet while riding, and so the campaign has a chance of reaching 100-per-cent adherence to the law.

A police survey in 2016 concluded that 10,924 motorcycles were involved in Bangkok crashes, with many bikers failing to wear a helmet.

The report noted that a helmet-use campaign would be a key preventive measure against road fatalities and serious head-injury cases.

The campaign coincides with the New Year 2018 holidays’ seven-day road accident-monitoring period starting December 28th.